Group suing for documents says they show backchannel communications

Former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and labor leaders are being accused of improperly negotiating in secret to agree on a union-friendly pact for work to expand the San Diego Convention Center.

The Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, a group of nonunion contractors, for months has said that the deal governing the $520 million expansion is unlawful because city voters banned such pacts.

The group says documents released after it sued under the California Public Records Act show improper communication between the city and labor leaders leading up to the pact, known as a project labor agreement.

Such agreements generally outline standards for wages, local hiring and health care coverage for workers, and require workers on projects to pay union dues whether they are members or not. Critics say the deals jack up costs for public projects, costing taxpayers money, and unfairly exclude nonunion workers.

Proposition A last year prohibited the city from entering into project labor agreements, but the law is unclear on whether a city contractor can — which is the case with the convention center project.

A hearing on the records lawsuit was scheduled for Friday, as the group is still seeking more documents, but did not take place.

Document

The documents that have been released show Sanders’ chief of staff, Julie Dubick, presenting a deal to labor leaders on Sept. 21 to ensure their support when the project goes before the California Coastal Commission for approval.

“Here is suggested language,” Dubick wrote labor leader Lorena Gonzalez, who has since been elected to the state Assembly. “Please confirm receipt to (private email address). See you at 2pm today.”

Sanders was scheduled to meet with Dubick from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. to discuss the convention center, according to a copy of the mayor’s calendar.

The deal suggested in the email was for Sanders to agree to bring together labor and the general contractor to reach a pact similar to the one used to build Petco Park.

Sanders, as outlined by Dubick, would, among other things, encourage the City Council to confirm an appointee to the convention center board that was acceptable to him and labor.

In exchange, labor officials would agree to drop litigation over the convention center’s financing plan, pledge not to bring new legal action challenging any aspects of the convention center expansion and completely withhold financial support for any litigation brought by a “third party.”

Labor would write to the Coastal Commission supporting the project and appear at a council meeting to voice approval.

Sanders, who now heads the regional chamber of commerce, said he does not comment on litigation pending before the city.

He added, “I still strongly support the convention center expansion plan because of the significant impact that it will have on our local economy and tourism industry.”

Evan McLaughlin, chief of staff to Gonzalez, said the former head of the labor council was not involved in the negotiations, despite being a recipient of the email.

“Ms. Gonzalez never negotiated the terms of a project labor agreement during her service at the labor council,” McLaughlin told U-T Watchdog. “This lawsuit sounds like another act of desperation by the same handful of anti-worker companies who are doing everything they can to drive down wages for local workers.”